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Tamla T 54038 (B), March 1961
B-side of I Want A Guy
(Written by Berry Gordy)
Motown M 1008 (B), March 1961
B-side of I Want A Guy
(Limited release on Motown Records; withdrawn)
If the story of the Supremes’ signing to Motown as told on the I Want A Guy page is really true – that Berry Gordy wasn’t interested in the group to start with – then he was certainly won over fast, writing and producing this splendid B-side less than a month later.
Because splendid it is. Not as ambitious as I Want A Guy (with which it would appear on the Supremes’ début LP, Meet The Supremes, the following year), it’s less experimental within its structure, a more straightforward slow-tempo 6/8 doo-wop – but it’s still really good. For a start, the band sounds better than ever; they’d had a lot of practice doing straightforward doo-wops, and they had it down pat by now, with beautiful guitar, Benny Benjamin on brushes and James Jamerson on autopilot. It sounds great.
Diana Ross again takes the lead vocal, and just as she did on I Want A Guy she takes it high and strong. The melismatic opening from the A-side is reprised, a sweet, cooing “ooooh” this time, and again I’m won over straight away.
When I say “won over”, I mean it. I didn’t want to like these two songs. A quick browse around the Internet reveals that nobody else seems to like these two sides. Critics seem to universally describe I Want A Guy as simplistic, ruined by the keyboard part and Ross’ lead vocal. The same critics dismiss Never Again with a contemptuous wave of the hand as a forgettable bit of straight-down-the-line Fifties doo-wop. This is exactly what I wanted to think about these two records before I actually listened to them. As it turns out, these people are so wrong that they deserve medals for their epic levels of wrongness.
Consider: I find Diana Ross a supremely (ha!) unlikeable character. I remain firmly of the opinion that she wasn’t the “best” singer in the Supremes, and while I don’t wholly subscribe to the oft-expressed view that the group were nothing special by themselves, just vehicles for Holland-Dozier-Holland’s best songs, handed their stardom on a plate, empty vessels etc etc, I do often wonder whether given the same material, attention and marketing push, any number of other groups not featuring a Diana Ross front and centre might by and large have achieved comparable results; I tend towards “no”, but I don’t think there’s necessarily anything that admirable in being so determined and bloody-minded and fixated on stardom that you claw your way to the top. And yet because of the frankly astonishing records they made, and the world-conquering success of those records, the Supremes must be considered as one of the greatest groups of all time, regardless of the ingredients for that success. Contradictions, contradictions.
I really, really wanted to hate this record, especially seeing as how negative reviews always single Ross’ voice out for criticism – high, reedy, piping, thin, screechy, you name it. Only the first of those labels actually applies here; I find her lead vocal perfectly-judged and utterly charming, oddly confident (possibly that’s just bravado, trying to impress the crucial judges and secure more leads in the future) and I think it’s unique, possessed of an unschooled, untrained character which brings life to a song that in more polished, more experienced hands might otherwise have just disappeared into the background.
Supposedly, the three other Supremes at the time thought Ross’ lead vocals on these sides were rubbish. They really aren’t, but oddly, when she got a bit more training and experience, her lead vocals in 1962 and 1963 by and large were rubbish – it’s as though this first Supremes single captures something of the group’s “early” sound, before Artist Development and assiduous grooming flattened them out into a tabula rasa for HDH to sculpt back up into a great pop group again.
Consider: The great thing about these sides, the thing that everyone seems to miss, is that they’re young songs, filled with the brio of youth, side A featuring a girl wishing for a boyfriend and kissing her posters at night, side B the same girl trying to cope with being dumped by some callous prick she’d pinned her hopes on (and quite possibly even slept with). The two faces of pining, solipsistic teenage love, you can play them in either order – she gets dumped, she wishes for a better guy, or she wishes for her dream guy so much she shacks up with someone who turns out to fall far short of the mark – but the key thing is that they’re both believable, and they’re believeable because of Diana Ross.
Consider:
I did everything you wanted me to / ‘Cos I thought your love was true / But I was blind, and I couldn’t see / Why did you do this to me?! / But I still love you, and I always will / I still thrill to your kiss / But I’ll never come back to you, when I get over this / Never again will I fall in love…
Someone else could have sung that “better”, as in technically better, but they wouldn’t have been a heartbroken sixteen-year-old girl, and they wouldn’t have been able to fake it, so the song wouldn’t work properly. It would be professional and smooth and you’d think “this is nice”, and then you’d forget it and never listen to it again. Whereas this is totally – totally – on the raw edge. You feel it. And when all is said and done, what else do you want from a pop record?
Anyway. The single stiffed, and the Supremes had their crucial self-confidence, so evident and infectious on these sides, knocked right out of them. They’d spend the next two years being shuffled around writer/producer teams, pumping out nervous-sounding, thoroughly mediocre records without ever getting close to having a hit record, enduring jibes and hostility from their labelmates, taking solace only in the long contract which kept them in work during those two long, lean years but which ended up costing them most of the royalties they’d earn when their ship came in. Not coincidentally, their breakthrough came when – at HDH’s urging – Ross made a return to the “girlish coquette” act which would end up making her a superstar; but the beginnings of that are very evident here, and all the more fascinating because in this case it’s actually for real.
I really, really like this record. Does it show?
MOTOWN JUNKIES VERDICT
(I’ve had MY say, now it’s your turn. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment, or click the thumbs at the bottom there. Dissent is encouraged!)
You’re reading Motown Junkies, an attempt to review every Motown A- and B-side ever released. Click on the “previous” and “next” buttons below to go back and forth through the catalogue, or visit the Master Index for a full list of reviews so far.
(Or maybe you’re only interested in The Supremes? Click for more.)
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| The Supremes “I Want A Guy” |
The Gospel Stars “He Lifted Me” |
Motown Junkies 
I’m one of the few who really like “I Want A Guy” but this song is an unimaginative, tuneless dirge, which deserves no more than 3/10. Diana’s vocal compares most unfavourably with her wonderful performance on “Play A Sad Song”,
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That does seem to be the general drift of public opinion, yes. What can I say? I have a real soft spot for it, as kind of a brief, fleeting snapshot of something, a sort of glimpse of a different group the Supremes didn’t ever turn out to be. Or something like that, anyway.
Eh, I really like it. Still.
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Include me in the few who rate “I Want A Guy”.
When I first “Never Again” I thought – oh no. Never again! Ha Ha. As I got into the more esoteric early Tamla waxings, I could hear a certain charm even though Diana’s strong tones could be a bit grating on the ears. It was a big thing for me to get a striped Tamla rather than the later world design (do you guys still use those terms or am I showing my age!) and moreover, it was supposedly very first 45 from the world famous The Supremes. So I felt obligated to like it.
There’s lots of songs that I once thought were not good but as I got older, my taste changed. But I’m not sure I could ever give this a “9” rating particularly when “Dancing In The Street” gets a lower ranking of a measly “8”! However for someone who was 4 when CD’s came out, I can only marvel that there are people who still like it enough to want to hear it and rate it highly. .
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I’m not a fan of either of the tracks but I prefer only slightly “I Want A Guy.” The early girl group ballad productions Motown released this and the Marvelettes’ So Long Baby simply could not compete with the competition of the time.. Shirelles, Crystals, Chantels, Angels. My rating – 2/10.
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I love it when you talk me into paying attention to a song like this, which I would have dismissed as rubbish. I feel twinges of rebellion when you undervalue songs like ‘Depend on me’ and ‘I Can’t Believe’ – and then give this one a 9 – but your affection for the song wins me over. The great thing about this site is that it opens this music up to us, and when you undervalue a song I’m saddened but never convinced, so no real harm is done. In my music history classes I would tell my students that they’d get a pretty frank expression of my own preferences, but that they were never to think that they were wrong to love something they loved – if I spoke highly of something that they DIDN’T like, they should allow for the possibility that they might be missing something….
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Diana’s voice is so pleasant and perhaps sexy. It’s that voice combined with the other girls, the compositions, and the band that make the HDH/Supremes sound so great. I feel my high regards for Diana can’t be trumped…Berry saw something and we all know what a musical genius he was.
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Completely agree!
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I can see the affinity for the A Side – I Want a Guy (barely), but the lead vocals on this track are unlistenable. If it didn’t carry the baggage of the Supremes/Diana Ross later success it would be completely dismissed and not given a second thought. Just to test out that theory I did a “blind” listening test with a few music lovers at least rudimentarily versed in and with an affinity for Motown. Categorically panned.
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Balderdash. Hate it if you want, lots of people do – but as I said, the reason I like it so much has nothing at all to do with the later Supremes; I actively wanted to dislike it. But everything gets a fair and fresh hearing here, regardless of who made it.
(If pushed, I’d actually be more likely to posit that these two sides are so widely panned was people coming to them straight after More Hits or something – that it might have been better received if it was a long-forgotten 45 billed to Betty McGlown and the Primettes – except your blind test goes against that!)
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(posting from phone – apologies for odd phrasing)
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I agree with you completely about this record except the part where you call Miss Ross a “supremely unlikeable character” lol. If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a large Ross fan. It’s very interesting to hear the girls so young and the raw emotion does come through the record. Nothing like simple lyrics & teen angst!
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I’d quite forgotten writing that! I should explain that when I started doing this (I wrote this piece two and a half years ago), I didn’t know much beyond biographies and press cuttings, some of which paint a very unedifying picture. I’ve since spoken to a couple of people who’ve met her numerous times and who’ve vouched for her doing and saying wonderful things outside the public glare, which goes to show you shouldn’t ever take it as read the media are giving you the full picture, I guess.
I also have a relationship with the Supremes that’s probably best classed as… Not love-hate, that’s not really it, but they’re responsible for maybe 10 or 12 of my all time absolute favourite Motown singles and yet at the same time I’d hesitate to say I was a fan, contradictory though that may sound. But I promise I’ll get into all this as we go – I need to get to the bottom of it myself for a start. 🙂
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I’m one of those people who think that Miss Ross gets a bad rap and she is extremely underrated as an artist & performer. I’ve been reading about her since I was about 10, so I do know the ugly and over-the-top ways in which she has been portrayed (half of them probably are true lol). I’m not saying I think she’s a saint, but I understand that she was focused on achieving her dreams. It may sound corny but the lady is my hero = )
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Hi! I agree with you about Miss Ross. She is a flawed human being like all of us. I imagine if someone followed me around on a bad day, they could write some pretty bad things about me! LOL!!! I think some of the things people have written about her have been placed way out of context. I know she tried to help out Flo Ballard financially and … she helped out Mary Wilson several times when she was down on her luck. A little trivia here… a former boss of mine knew Diana’s second husband Arne Naess. I think he was invited to the wedding. I also slightly know the minister who married Arne & Diana.
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Wow! Grandpa Landini I feel as though I’m clWoser to Miss Ross from my association with you. Lol.
Did that old boss of yours get any pictures?!? = )
Do you know what that boss of yours thought of Arne as person?
Is the minister you slightly know the minister who married them.the first time in the quickie ceremony or was this the minister who married them in the second extravagant ceremony that made the cover of People???
So for the questions just a curious kid whose a huge Ross fan. = )
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Hi Damecia,
Sorry friend. I don’t have much info. Never saw any pictures. I don’t think my boss attended the ceremony. My boss never spoke about Arne personally. Also, not sure which ceremony the minister officiated at.
It was funny. I hardly saw my boss at all. He would come into the office at his leisure & pretty much hibernate in there. He was an older man. I was a few rungs down the ladder & would get my marching orders from others. Don’t get me wrong, he was a very nice man. Always very pleasant during our rare encounters.
On a personal note, please keep me in your prayers today as I have a chemo treatment this afternoon. It is actually not bad. Friends drop by & chat with me. I can read, watch TV, listen to music, even eat if I want to while it is going on.
Have a great & blessed day!
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Okay here is a Diana Ross story for you. Back in 1969 (when I was 11) my mom & I went to see D Ross/Supremes at the Carter Baron Ampitheater in Wash, DC. We sat next to a very nice group of black young adults & we all chatted pre-concert. Well, mid-concert, Diana introduced the song “Love Child” & invited all the “kids” from the audience to join them on stage & dance. Well, I hesitated for a minute & then jumped up on stage! When the song ended, Miss Ross, asked us to all line up & give our names to her. So yes I stood next to Miss Ross for a minute! When I gave my name I was surprised to hear some applause. My new friends in our row all clapped for me & complimented me on my dancing!
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Aw no personal stories lol. The association with you is still nice though = ). You’re in my prayers.
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Thank you!
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I agree that some ppl dont realize theyre young and it is a pretty alright song. But i dont think it’s a 9. Maybe 6. But, she sounds hurt and so sweet i cant resist this lol
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The singing and overall production feel are strong, but it’s painful to wade through all that I vi IV V to get to the little morsel of songwriting interest in the bridge. Having read your overview of the composers, I’m fully expecting you to eventually prove me wrong about Berry Gordy, but songs like this strengthen my initial impression that his genius leaned far more towards entrepreneurship & talent scouting than actual songwriting. Producers tacking their names onto songwriters’ copyrights is one of the oldest and best-documented practices of the era, so it’s a bit hard to believe that a consummate capitalista like good old Berry spent as much time pouring out his heart in a little piano cubicle as his list of co-writing credits might imply. And when we do get one like this where he’s the only writer listed, it’s almost always based on standard harmonic clichés. His lyrics and feel for the mood of the time are probably much more indicative of his songwriting prowess than his harmonies but I have a hard time getting past I vi IV V and the “start on the IV” bridge trick (which doesn’t apply here – I really like the surge into minor in this particular bridge, although he doesn’t milk it as he could have. When does Valerie arrive? Oh my God – the bridges she wrote for Marvin & The Supremes’ Love Child album are are truly epic accomplishments.
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Enjoyed it, but who was the best singer of the group? You never named the girl. I met Mary recently in Washington dc ,but iheard it was Florence. What say you?
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I agree that Florence was the “best” singer in The original Supremes. I much prefer her singing to Diane’s. I also agree that Berry Gordy was only a mediocre songwriter. Most of his best songs were written together with Billy Davis, and some also were written with Gwen, and some with Smokey. He wrote a few really good songs as a solo writer, my favourite being “Just Let Me Know” (sung by The Temptations). At least he didn’t “steal” writing credits, like so many non-creative record company owners did. His name only appeared in writing credits as a co-writer, when he actually DID polish someone else’s song, either by improving the lyrics, or the song’s musical structure.
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